It became popular in Taiwan in the 1980s when the economy took off, according to anthropologist Marc Moskowitz, a professor at the University of South Carolina.

The practice has roots in the practice of hiring female wailers who were paid to cry at processions, Moskowitz wrote in a post on the China Policy Institute website earlier this year.

Another pole dancer performing on top of a Jeep.

"The stripping performances started out as something that gangsters did, but generally spread out to become common practice throughout Taiwan," Moskowitz wrote. "They are primarily associated with the working class or poorer communities."

It's now illegal to have full nudity at funerals, according to Moskowitz.